Improvement in corn-planters



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

\ AMOS ROARK, OF GILMAN, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-PLANTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,454, dated February2,1875; application filed June 30, 1874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AMOS BQARK, of'Gilman, inthe county of Marshall and State of Iowa, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Oorn- Planters; and. I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventionsuch as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings whichform part of this specification.

The nature of my invention relates to an improvement in corn-planters;and it consists in the arrangement and combination of parts, which willbe more fully described hereafter.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my invent-ion. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section of the same.

00 represents a rectangular frame, which is supported upon the twoground-wheels b at its rear end and the rotary colter c at the front.Pivoted inside of this frame, upon the rod 01, is a smaller frame, 0,which carries the dropping-Wheel g and scraper h, and which has its rearend so formed as to extend up within easy reach of the drivers feetwhile seated on the seat 0'. By pressing down up on this rear end thefront one will be raised upward, lifting the dropping-wheel up from theground, so that it can be turned freely around. Piyoted to the front endof the frame a, upon the outsides, are the bars j, having thedrill-teeth secured to their rear ends and a rod, 0, to their tops,which pass up through the cross-bar Z. This bar 1 extends across thefront end of the frame, passing over the guides n, which hold it inposition, and which is raised upward by the front end of the smallerframe, e, carrying the drill-teeth with it, so as to raise the teethfrom the ground in passing to and from the field. The droppin gwheel issecured to the shaft m, and has two or more cams, '12, secured to eachside, which operate the dropping-slides u, and secured to its periphery,at

the outer ends of the earns, a suitable device, t, which will make anindentation or mark on the ground just opposite where a hill has beendropped. Secured to one side of the wheel is a smaller disk or wheel, r,which has two sets of numbers marked upon its periphery, which begin atone cam and run up to the other. These numbers indicate the feet orspaces between the hills. Fastened to the side of the frame, so as toextend outward beyond the wheel b, and up toward the front end of themachine, is the index-bar s, which has also numbers marked upon itsupper side, which correspond to the numbers on the wheel 7', and alsoindicate the spaces between the hills.

In turning the machine around at the end of a row the dropping-wheelalways loses more or less of the relative distance between the lasthills, and the consequence is that the hills of the new row are never ona line with the others, so that the corn can be cultivated in bothdirections, or in lines at right angles to each other. My invention isintended to obviate this difficulty.

After the driver has turned around at the end of the row he sees at aglance where the last hills are by the dots or impressions made by thedevices it on the dropping-wheel. He also sees by the index-bar 8 howmany spaces it is to the next hill, or the place where the next hillought to be dropped. Looking then at the dropping-wheel he sees that thenumbers on it do not correspond to the numbers on the barthat the wheelwill not operate the slides so as to drop the corn in the proper place.The driver then presses down with his weight upon the bar we, whichextends across the rear end of the frame 0 and lifts the dropping-wheelup from the ground, so that it can be turned around by the hand. Byturning the wheel back or forward the numbers on the wheel and index-barcan be made to correspond, and the dropping will then go regularly on,the hills of the last rows being dropped just opposite the hills of theother rows so evenly and regularly that the corn can be cultivated atright angles.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In combination with thedropping-wheel of a planter, an index-wheel, r, and bar 8, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. The bars j, rods 0, bar I, and guides 42, in combination with theinner frame 0, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this13th day of September, 187 3.

AMOS ROARK.

Witnesses: H. H. J ONES, D. E. COOPER.

